The Steps To My Life
by xyber116
Summary: Cameron reflects on her life while she waits for House.


A/N: I re-watched all three season before Season 4 started. It was awesome. Please forgive me for the inability to write dialogue. This based on the unseen Cameron family and the imaginative reasons why we don't see them. This is Cameron's POV, slight angst, and slight AU since I wrote this before Season 4 started.

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Cameron had been sitting on the steps for almost an hour contemplating her life and what it had become. She remembered when she was four how her mother told her that she was a bad child. Cameron had loyally followed her eight and ten year old brothers up a tall tree. They had made it up to the top while she stopped half-way. The brothers teased her and dared her until she stepped on the next branch up that snapped in half and sent her falling 30 feet to the ground. She broke her arm in two places and she was the one who was scolded while her brothers got off free.

It always happened that way. When Cameron was 12, she was caught smoking pot and was told she was a screw-up. The eldest brother had come home from college for the break and had shared the stash with the younger brother. Cameron had wanted to be cool and accepted by her brothers. But that hadn't happened. Instead, they ratted her out to their mother who again punished her and not the boys.

But, the biggest disappointment for her mother had been when Cameron married a man dying of cancer. Her mother hadn't even shown up for the wedding and Cameron had mixed feelings about it. Later that week she received a letter from her mother saying that they were no longer related. That she was being disowned. Throughout Cameron's life nothing had hurt worse. She had called her childhood home to have the phone answered by her father. He instantly recognized her voice and told her not to call again or her mother would be furious. She had pleaded with him not to hang up but she heard a click and the line go dead. Her father had always sided with her mother. He really never got involved in his children's life. It was like he was a sperm/money donor that lived in the same house and she hated to think of him that way. But she did even though he had done nothing wrong. It was all her mother's fault in the end.

It was her mother's fault that she was on House's porch at midnight wishing that her life was different. It was her mother's fault that she never felt loved by her parents. It was her mother's fault that she had been in some relationships that had turned bad because no one had taught her how to avoid them. It was her mother's fault that she had become a doctor.

But it was also her mother's fault for making her grow up so fast. That was the one thing she didn't regret about her life. At the age of 14, most of Cameron's peers were off doing something stupid while she was at home taking care of herself and worrying about how to make tomorrow's lunch. Cameron grew up knowing that she had herself, and only herself, to rely on. If she ever saw her mother again, that's what she would tell her thank you for. Cameron had an incredible ability for self direction while others ran around in chaos.

She was deep in thought when House caught her sitting on his steps.

"What are you doing here?" he said in the usual gruff as he approached her.

"I came to tell you something," she said to him as he stopped right in front of her. She was standing two steps up making her taller than House. She felt strange being the one to look down rather than the other way. She could look directly into his crystal clear blue eyes that reflected the porch light that hung behind her.

"Yeah, well, it's been two weeks since you quit, so I don't have to listen to you," House said as he took a step closer. He was directly in front of her and she had to fight the urge to smile. But she was sure that her eyes had betrayed her because that damn trademark smirk of his appeared.

"No, you don't but I'm asking you too," she said as she looked into his eyes and wondered who would flinch. House flinched first by looking at the door. He obviously wanted to leave and thought it was easier to hear her out rather than fight. He brought his eyes back to hers.

"Okay," he said even though he had no plans to listen.

"A couple of years ago I told you thank you for saving my job. I realize now that I was completely naïve about the whole thing. But I'm going to tell you thank you again. Not for the best time ever," she said sarcastically, "but for making me a better doctor and making me grow up even more." Cameron finished her small speech and looked as if a weight had been lifted off her. She let her smile drift from her eyes to her mouth. "Alright then," she said as she dug her hands into her pockets and moved down the steps to the street. "Goodbye, House."

"Why do you do that?" House turned around to look at her.

"What?" she asked turning back to him.

"Why do you tell someone thank you after they've put you through three years of misery?" he asked with more clarity.

Cameron figured that he might question it because he never accepted anything easily. She was going to give him some lame excuse but decided against it. She no longer worked for him so he couldn't use it against her.

"Awhile back you asked me if I was damaged, who damaged me, if I had a fat sister, or if I was the fat one. The answer is yes, I am damaged. My mother felt no love towards me and neglected me. My father was distant in every aspect and my two older brothers picked on me until I broke. I grew up fast and all alone. My family disowned me when I married my husband. I never got to thank my mother for making me who I am. So, I thought I'd at least thank you," she finished with a shrug. House just stood there looking at her.

"That was so touching," he said with a fake sniffle and concerned tone.

"I never needed for you to accept it. Just thought you would like to know since you asked," she said with a touch of anger. She really didn't need him making fun of her.

"Okay," he said and made his way up the steps towards his apartment. He turned around at the last moment as she was about to cross the street.

"I get where you're coming from," he said loud enough for her to hear. She turned around again to look at him as she was about to step off the curb. She only nodded her head and walked across the street.

She got in her car and sat there for a moment, thinking about what he said. House hadn't been making fun of her. He was simply relating it to his own experience. She had to laugh a little at that. House had shared a small piece of personal information with her.

She started her car up and drove off. The whole thing hadn't turned out too bad.

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A/N 2: How was it? Good, bad, or ugly? Leave a review please. There will definitely be no sequel because I haven't finished another fic yet.


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